340 improvements with dyno numbers

I've never had the luck to find an original 340. So I've never speced them myself. I've always heard they were 10-10.5 with the pop up pistons. Changing in 1972 to the lower compression. Then again you could probably pull two different motors made on two different days and come up with a different compression ratio. I don't think things were as "exact" back then.

In either case. Building an engine with 9.25:1 compression then putting aluminum heads on it is a waste of time in my books. I figured someone would jump on me saying its 8.25. Yes, its "9.25" with aluminum heads. You don't lose actual compression. I'm saying an aluminum headed engine essentially "acts" like it has 1 less point of compression than an iron engine. It doesn't build the heat like the iron headed engine does. That's the best I can explain it. And I never said dart heads weren't far superior. I'm saying superior depends on your application.

You can put lipstick on a pig, it's still a pig.


You keep saying "pop up" piston but they were ALL flat tops. All of them. Just be cause the piston is out of the bore, doesn't make it a pop up. I love the 60's and 70's as much as th next guy but damn, we have got to clean up the lexicon. It took decades to kill off the 3/4 race cam crap and it still hear it now and then.

They all had flat top pistons.